Reinventing the Book in Contemporary Chinese Art

The Center for Chinese Studies invites the University community and public to attend the ninth talk in our Spring 2008 China Research Seminar series.

Shawn Eichmann

Curator of East Asian Art, Honolulu Academy of Arts

Shu: Reinventing the Book in Contemporary Chinese Art

Great Chinese artists have traditionally also been regarded as scholars, well-read in philosophy, history, and literature. Books (shu in Chinese) conveyed textual learning, but as albums and illustrated catalogs, were also spaces for pictorial expression. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the relationship between artists and books grew more complex, as Maoist anti-intellectual movements discouraged book-learning and denigrated the idea of the scholar-artist. Contemporary Chinese artists, however, have reengaged with the book as a literary and artistic artifact.

This traveling exhibit, organized by the China Institute under the guidance of Wu Hung, features work by 23 artists who explore the idea of the book in their lives and art. It will be hosted by the Academy in June of this year.

Shawn Eichman, who specializes in the arts of China and Japan and is an expert on Daoist and Buddhist art, earned his PhD in Chinese literature at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa.

Event Sponsor
Center for Chinese Studies, Manoa

More Information
Daniel Tschudi, 956-8891, dtschudi@hawaii.edu, reinventing the Book (PDF)

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